ENC 1145 Section 14017 Baugus

1 ENC1145 (#14017) Secondary Worlds and (Imaginary) Travel Narratives Instructor Name: Samantha Baugus Course meeting times & locations: T 8-9, R 9, MAEB 0229 Office Location and Hours: Turlington 4367, T 4-5 (10:40-12:35) Course website: Canvas Instructor Email: [email protected] Course Description: Traveling holds a complicated and tense position in society — people travel for pleasure and work, to escape persecution, to conquer new lands, to obey oppressive regimes and captors. But traveling is not limited to the reaches of the world as we know it. In this course we will be exploring travel to what J. R. R. Tolkein termed “secondary worlds” — the worlds of science fiction and fantasy. Why do people write about travel to places that don’t exist? Is there a difference between a fantastic travel narrative and a realistic travel narrative and does that difference matter? Does secondary world travel exist outside of fiction, and should we go to these places? And, most importantly, what is a primary world and what is a secondary world? Our texts will focus on traveling from the primary world to secondary worlds, to different versions of the primary world, and to imaginary places that are part of the primary world. By thinking about these three different kinds of travel, we will think about colonialism and imperialism (what happens when we go to a new world), identity politics (how we interact with the inhabitants of these new world), and the political stakes of inventing new world (why do we need to create the final frontier). Of equal importance will be logistics and modes of travel: defining modes of travel, how we make them, and how we get to secondary worlds. General Education Objectives: • This course confers General Education credit for either Composition (C) or Humanities (H). This course also fulfills 6,000 of the university’s 24,000-word writing requirement (WR). • Composition courses provide instruction in the methods and conventions of standard written English (grammar, punctuation, usage), as well as the techniques that produce effective texts. Composition courses are writing intensive. They require multiple drafts submitted to your instructor for feedback before final submission. • Course content should include multiple forms of effective writing, different writing styles, approaches and formats, and methods to adapt writing to different audiences, purposes and contexts. Students should learn to organize complex arguments in writing using thesis statements, claims and evidence, and to analyze writing for errors in logic. • The University Writing Requirement (WR) ensures students both maintain their fluency in writing and use writing as a tool to facilitate learning. To receive Writing Requirement credit, a student must receive a grade of C or higher and a satisfactory completion of the writing component of the course. This means that written assignments must meet minimum word requirements totaling 6000 words. General Education Learning Outcomes: At the end of this course, students will be expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes in content, communication and critical thinking: 2 • Content: Students demonstrate competence in the terminology, concepts, theories and methodologies used within the academic discipline. • Communication: Students communicate knowledge, ideas and reasoning clearly and effectively in written and oral forms appropriate to the discipline. Students will participate in class discussions throughout the semester to reflect on assigned readings. • Critical Thinking: Students analyze information carefully and logically from multiple perspectives, using discipline-specific methods, and develop reasoned solutions to problems. Required Texts Any films, TV shows, or podcasts you do not need to purchase; if you have the capacity to stream, download, or borrow these things then please do so. Use the website JustWatch.com to find out where you can stream/purchase/rent TV shows and movies. Things marked with an asterisk (*) are available through course reserves at Library West. Any editions of the novels are acceptable including and especially digital versions. • The Habitat (podcast) (2018) • The Martian (film) (2015)* • The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (only the first book in the series) (1979) • Avatar (film) (2009)* • The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (1950) • Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (2016) • Stardust by Neil Gaiman (1999) • Enchanted (2007) • arsParadoxica, Season 1, Episode 4 (podcast) (2015) o I recommend listening to the first three episodes to understand the plot. You can find plot summaries for “Hypothesis,” “Blackout,” and “Trinity” (the first three episodes) here: http://ars-paradoxica.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Episode_Pages • Doctor Who, “Vincent and the Doctor” Series 5, episode 10 o I do not recommend looking up summaries of previous seasons. I do recommend looking the basic premise of the show and who the Doctor is though. Wikipedia has this information. • Kindred by Octavia Butler (1979) • The Good Place, Season 1, Episodes 1 (2016) & 13 (2017) (TV show) o We will only be discussing the above episodes, but I recommend watching the entire season (13 episodes) or reading the summaries on Wikipedia to understand the plot • Stranger Things, Season 1, 5, 7, & 8 (TV show) (2016) only available on Netflix o We will only be discussing the above episodes, but I recommend watching the entire season (8 episodes) or reading the summaries on Wikipedia to understand the plot • Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore (2017) Assignments (see below for Grading Rubric): Note: This is a 1,000-point course; assignments are not weighted. Passage Analysis (4) 50 points each (200 total); 500 words each (2,000 total) To perform a passage analysis, you will select a up to four paragraphs of a novel or up to a minute of a movie and examine this short snippet for how it relates to the novel or film overall keeping in mind our course’s theme of travel. Each student will select four texts on which to write a short passage analysis 3 which will be submitted on the day the text is read in class (see sign-up sheet for more clarification of due dates and texts available to be written on). Critical Response 100 points; 1,000 words Our first assignment will be a critical investigation of the relationship between The Habitat and The Martian. Critically thinking and writing means more than just summarizing a text but engaging with what the text is saying, how it is saying it, and what we can learn from understanding the text more thoroughly. To this end we will be using the information and knowledge gained from listening to non-fiction research- based podcast The Habitat and apply it to fictional but also research-based film The Martian. We will be answering questions like: Is The Martian scientifically feasible? How and why does The Martian/Mars qualify as a secondary world? What can or should we learn about space travel, outer space, and the human desire to go there? This assignment will involve writing critical summaries of both the podcast and film in order to answer these questions. Due January 31 Novel Analysis 150 points; 1,200 words For the second writing assignment we will build on our critical thinking and writing skills to analyze one of three novels: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Every Heart a Doorway, or Stardust. An analysis consists of not only critically thinking about a text but also putting forth your own interpretation of the text, calling a reading. To do this you will do two things in the assignment: First, write a critical summary of a secondary source. Second, perform a close reading of a significant passage in the novel you choose demonstrating how this passage plus your secondary source help prove the validity of your reading. Due February 28 Comparison Paper 200 points; 1,500 words For the third major writing assignment, we further expand the critical thinking and writing skills we’ve already developed to think about the three kind of travel we will have experienced at that point: interstellar, fantastic, and through time. Your task will be to compare these three modes of travel. The comparison should not focus solely on the means of performing these kinds of travel but should also include a consideration of why we have these three different kinds of imaginary travel; what are the stakes and why do writers and audiences invest in these imaginary places and the ways of getting there? Does each kind of place and kind of travel have the same stakes? You will need to draw on one text that addresses each kind of travel and at least two secondary sources. You will need to use all of the skills developed in the previous two writing assignment: critical summary, close reading, using and applying secondary sources, and academic writing style. Due April 2 Travelogue and Advertisement 150 points; 300 words (only applies to third part of assignment) The final assignment is comprised of three parts. The first part is a travelogue and accompanying advertisement. You will document (through images or text) of your visit to one of the secondary worlds we’ve read about in this class. This visit can be as long as you want but it needs to document at least four days. This can be written in any format you want—a diary, a short-story narrative, a journalism article, a documentary, or anything else you can think of. The second part will be a travel advertisement to the same place that you will present in class during our class meeting. The third part will be a critical 4 reflection on your work explaining what elements of the text you highlighted in your advertisement and why. Points Breakdown Travelogue: 75 Advertisement: 25 Critical Reflection: 30 (300 words) Presentation: 20 Due April 23 Major Assignment Summary Assignment Points Word Count Due Date Passage Analyses 50 each/200 total 500 each/2,000 total See sign-up sheet Critical Response 100 1,000 01/31 Novel Analysis 150 1,200 02/28 Comparison Paper 200 1,500 04/02 Travelogue 150 300 04/23 Total 800 6,000 Reading Quizzes (10) 10 points each, 100 total At my discretion I will give reading quizzes in class.

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